The flagship project was developed hand-in-hand with a rebranding campaign throughout the Denny’s corporation. With much analysis of the historical stages this American staple, SITE developed varying ideas for the Denny’s of today. Initially designing with their heritage intent of the googie style, we placed an emphasis on the roof as a vehicle for space-making, scalability, and signage. With much self-examination from the client and SITE, we honed in on the status of Denny’s and the diner as an American icon. With this powerful icon and Denny’s desire to push new technologies forward with their brand, we drew a connection between the diner being a predecessor for contemporary social networking.

The exterior of the building features a prominent metal, skin consisting of “diner bands” symbiotically fusing with the intersecting network lines, which I developed both pattern and system with Zahner. The planning approach went through a plethora of iterations before narrowing in on a scheme that harmonized with the exterior intent. Pulling from the notion of networking, this approach’s intent is to provide spaces for casual happenstance to take place, to reduce formal moments allowing for the diverse Denny’s patrons to share a piece of each other’s pie.